


Night Demons

by RyuuNoYuki



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh!, Yu-Gi-Oh! Series
Genre: Angst, Characters Dealing With Feels, Drabble, Feels, Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-09
Updated: 2018-04-09
Packaged: 2019-04-20 13:56:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14262462
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RyuuNoYuki/pseuds/RyuuNoYuki
Summary: Some of our most loyal feelings, those that refuse to ever let us go, are our own personal demons. . . . Post-series. Drabblefic. Contest winner.





	Night Demons

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Rights to Yu-Gi-Oh belong to Kazuki Takahashi and others. No monetary gain comes from this fan work.  
> Originally posted to ff.net and the YGO Drabble LJ community on 10/13/10. Reposted for AO3 with minor edits.  
> Word Prompt: "Loyalty" (weekly drabble contest winner)  
> Warnings: Drama! Questions! Post-series.

Sometimes he dreams of fire.

It's always the same. White-hot flames all around, taking him, consuming him. His screams go unheard over the roar pressing in on every side, encompassing every direction. As if the fire is the beginning and end of all existence, and there is nothing else of life left for him.

Then, over the heat and the noise, comes the sound he will never again hear in his waking hours. The angry screech of a giant bird-of-prey, the fury of a god misused and avenging. And just before the fire claims him in its depths, he sees the flash of gold coming down from the sky, aiming for his heart, and feels regret for everything he's done and almost did.

But what is regret? It can't change the past. Worthless, and no god will take it as payment for your sins. Red eyes tell him as they descend.

~ ~ ~

Sometimes she dreams of the sky.

She knows it's a dream because a vista like this doesn't exist in her current world of schoolwork and city blocks. An azure bowl covering a wide open ocean of sand, nothing to obstruct the view from one horizon to the other. Endless. Open. Blue.

And suddenly she knows she shouldn't be here, suspended in the sky like a lost star. She should be underground, with them, that's how it really happened. But this time she's here, alone, and she won't be there to say goodbye—!

She knows this is a dream, but the loneliness is still real, like a physical hand around her neck, strangling. This isn't how it happened, but the end result is the same, isn't it? She knows that when she wakes, he'll still be gone.

~ ~ ~

Sometimes he dreams of the sea.

He never gave thought to the weight of water until the time there was so much on top of him, the sun just a reminder of a shiny coin far above. It presses down on him, both a dream and a memory, and some things aren't clear to him from that time but the weight always is.

It doesn't seem fair, that at sixteen he should have to accept that he’s about to die. There's so many thoughts he wants to linger on but only has time for a few last ones: that Shizuka is going to be fine now, that Yugi's shadowy body reached the surface before it faded from his blurry sight.

His chest hurts from the weight and the need for oxygen. The water closes in, invades his mouth and nose. It slides down his throat like he's taking a long drink, but it keeps going and going, and this is what dying feels like.

Tonight he wakes up cursing, then quiets, remembering he's spending the night at someone's home. His hands are shaking so badly. How weak is he that after all this time, he's still afraid of a memory?

~ ~ ~

Sometimes he dreams of darkness.

It is heavy like the weight of the earth that presses down on him. Burying him. Oppressive.

A pyramid-shaped pendant spins in the darkness, tumbling end over end, falling amidst six other flashes of gold. Falling, falling until they are all like him, hidden deep in the rubble, far under the earth, buried forever. It's smothering him.

He's never known despair like this in his waking hours, this helplessness. It sinks claws into him. Attacks him here in the one place he can't defend himself. Why? He has friends, family, important memories he will never forget. Things people go through their lives wishing for. In the face of all that, why is this so strong?

~ ~ ~

Sometimes he dreams of light.

It is not a comfort that chases away the terrors waiting in the darkness. Nothing about it soothes him as he is suddenly bathed in the burst streaming down from somewhere above. It is the light of truth. It is a heavy mantle on his shoulders, a physical presence painting every aspect of his body in stark relief. Everything in him is laid bare here, and even without anyone's accusations, in his own eyes he comes up wanting.

Guilt is no emotion he will tolerate in his waking hours, but here it finds a home in him. He hates his dreams for this reason. Because he can't control himself, and he wakes with tears on his cheeks.

~ ~ ~

"Malik-sama? Are you all right? Why are you up?"

"I-I'm fine, Rishid. Please, go back to sleep."

~ ~ ~

"Dear, it's too late for you to be up here practicing your routine; your father can hear you through the ceiling and… Dear, have you been crying?"

"It's nothing, _Okaa-san_. I just—I wanted to get something perfect."

~ ~ ~

"Jounouchi-kun? Why're you awake? Can't you sleep?"

"No. You?"

"…No, me either."

~ ~ ~

"Sir? Do you need anything?"

"No. I'm going for a walk. ...Go check on Mokuba."

"Yes, sir."


End file.
